Wedge Classic 09 - Day 2

posted by Pat Harris on 9th July 2009

Day 2 of The Wedge Classic 09, which is brought to you by Nomad Bodyboards, Bitou Tourism and The Surf Store, saw us blessed with an unbelievable day of perfect weather and an amazing turnout of supporters and spectators. Winds were light, clean offshore, with small, but very contestable waves. Although the waves were only peaking in the 2 - 3ft range riders in all divisions put together all their possible manoeuvres to advance into the next rounds.

Round 1 of the Drop Knee (DK), division saw the only lady competitor in the division, Nikki Gericke, being eliminated. Gericke showed no fear when it came to riding DK and could have been a threat to her fellow competitors had she made it through. She has vowed to be back next year to challenge the male dominated division.

There were numerous standouts during today's event with young gun, Adam Waites, from Durban, securing a place in both the Pro and Junior division finals. Capetonian, Daniel Worsley, cruised through the DK semi final with solid floaters, good top to bottom turns and exceptional barrel riding skills. Daniel put on a solid performance and will also feature in the Pro finals.

Last years "King of the Wedge", Vaughn Harris, destroyed his Pro quarter final with air roll spin (ARS) to roll combo's and a tweaked invert, but failed to follow on the momentum to make the finals with Michael "Ratt" Ostler (Durban), and Adam Waites, taking 1st and 2nd position in the heat and advancing through.

Other upsets were local rider Sampi Kamffer (Plettenberg Bay), and Sacha Specker (Cape Town), who both fell short of advancing to Pro semi finals.

The pro finals sees winner of both the Sport Unlimited/Spur Cape Classic and Wimpy/Rossi Pro AM contests, Mark Watts (Durban), going up against Michael "Ratt" Ostler, Adam Waites and Daniel Worsley in what promises to be an action packed event as each rider aims to claim their first "King of the Wedge" crown.

A development clinic was run with 10 riders under the wings of top Junior and Pro riders, namely Sacha Specker, Michael Ostler, Jake Rosenburg, Sean Tickner, Murray van Vuuren, Storm Prestwich, and Aden Kleve.

Four of the development riders were chosen by the "instructors" to advance into development final and that we (SABA) want to see them all in the contest next year - the ten development riders were Justin de Jager, Matthew Ronald, Leon Martin, Max Smit, Adriaan de Kock, Johannes Harmse , Michael Hardham, Thomas Nel, Roche de Villiers and Kevin Hardham.

Making it through to the final were Leon Martin, Adriaan de Kock, Kevin Hardham and with Thomas Nell not being available for the final, next slot went to Michael Hardham

Watching them ride one can see that there is future in South African bodyboarding thanks to the South African Bodyboarding Association and Nomad Bodyboards.

Tomorrow will see finals starting at approx 08h30 with local lady, Lyndall Pells, up against Nikki Gericke and Emily Holden.

The Masters division final will be an interesting affair with recent grandfather, Mike van Huyssteen (Durban), meeting, Wayne Craig (Plett), who is about to become a father, and fellow local ripper, Wesley McQuillan, going head to head for the title.

Expression Session did not produce epic riding that spectators would have enjoyed as Neptune, as usual, did not play his part, but we can look forward to a spectacular final featuring South Africa's best.

The various finals are as follows:

Pro
Daniel Worsley
Mark Watts
Adam Waites
Michael Ostler

Juniors
Adam Waites
Jared Visick
Andrew Raath
Storm Prestwich

Men
Ryan Jucker
Jonathan de Lauwere
Michael Meyer
Warren Samuel

DK
Darren Halse
Sacha Specker
Daniel Worsley
Vaughn Harris

Boys
Niklas Martin
Stephan du Preez
Roger Pardoe
Wesley Coetzee

Ladies
Lyndall Pells
Nickie Gericke
Emily Holden

Masters
Mike van Huyssteen
Wayne Craig
Wesley McQuillan

Development
Leon Martin
Adriaan de Kock
Kevin Hardham
Michael Hardham

Expression Session
Mark Watts
Daniel Worsley
Michael Ostler
Sampi Kamffer

Wedge Classic Heat Sheets

Keep checking sixty40.co.za for more updates.

The Wedge Classic 09 is proudly brought to you by Nomad Bodyboards, Bitou Tourism and The Surf Shop in association with Spur Steak Ranches, Beacon Isle Hotel, Ocean Safaries, Dolphin Adventures, Birds of Eden, Summer Sands beach shop, Massage for Life, Crawford Sports, Round Table Plett, The Computer Shop, Wild Thing Paintball, Coastal Hire, Tenikwa Wildlife Centre, Face Adrenaline, Skydive Plett, The Music Box, Events & Tents and Monkey Land.


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Comments

Jared HoustonJared Houston
9th July 2009 04:43
loving the wedge updates.
Feels so weird to not be at the contest and getting sweet knockout first round haha!
Well done fto all the finalists,looking forward to the pro final especially.
Wish we had a webcast facility but maybe in the future.
Yew~

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